Ballistics Forensic Technology - Assignment Example

A ballistic body is a body which is free to move, behave, and be modified in appearance, contour, or texture by ambient conditions, substances, or forces, as by the pressure of gases in a gun, by rifling in a barrel, by gravity, by temperature, or by air particles. A ballistic missile is a missile designed to operate in accordance with the laws of ballistics. Forensic ballistics involves the analysis of bullets and bullet impacts to determine the type. Separately from ballistics information, firearm and tool mark examinations involve analyzing firearm, ammunition, and tool mark evidence in order to establish whether a certain firearm or tool was used in the commission of a crime.

[Anthony A. Braga,1 Ph.D., and Glenn L. Pierce,2 Ph.D.] The specifications like Forensic ballistics, the science of analyzing firearm usage in crimes, Internal ballistics, the study of the processes originally accelerating the projectile, for example, the passage of a bullet through the barrel of a rifle, Transition ballistics, the study of the projectile's behavior when it leaves the barrel and the pressure behind the projectile is equalized, External ballistics, the study of the passage of the projectile through space or the air, Terminal ballistics, the study of the interaction of a projectile with its target, whether that be flesh (for a hunting bullet), steel (for an anti-tank round), or even furnace slag (for an industrial slag disruptor) [Wikipedia] Ballistics has been used in forensic technology such as ballistic fingerprinting, imaging, etc.

Ballistics imaging technology has received tremendous attention as a potent tool for moving the law enforcement response to violent gun criminals forward by linking multiple crime scenes to one firearm.[www.cybersniper.com] Cost-effectiveness estimates and qualitative evidence also suggest that ballistics imaging technology allows law enforcement agencies to make hits that would not have been possible using traditional ballistics methods. Ballistic fingerprinting, a sub-category of firearms examination, is a forensic method that is intended to help find the gun that was used in a crime by matching the bullet's striations (or striae) with the rifled barrel through which it was fired, or by matching marks on the cartridge case to marks in the chamber and breech.

The technique is part of the science of forensic ballistics, and it is an application of tool mark identification. [Wikipedia]Newgard discusses the body's blood loss sensory and compensatory mechanisms (venous constriction, increased cardiac output, and vascular fluid transfer), and the degree in which these mechanisms respond to, and compensate for, hemorrhagic shock. He reviews clinical tests of human tolerance for blood loss, which "demonstrate that adequate blood pressure can be maintained with minimal symptoms until a 20% blood deficit was reached.

" [Newgard, Ken, M.D ] Newgard provides the following example: "For an average 70 kg (155 lb.)* male the cardiac output will be 5.5 liters (1.4 gallons) per minute. His blood volume will be 60 ml per kg (0.92 fl. oz. per lb.) or 4200 ml (1.1 gallons). Assuming his cardiac output can double under stress (as his heart beats faster and with greater force). his aortic blood flow can reach 11 liters (2.8 gallons) per minute. If one assumes a wound that totally severs the thoracic aorta, then it would take 4.6 seconds.